Episode 1

"The judges were presented with a singular case on Monday 14 June, a month after they had heard their first divorce suit. Henry Oliver Robinson, a civil engineer, was petitioning for the dissolution of his marriage on the grounds that his wife, Isabella, had committed adultery, and he submitted as evidence a diary in her hand."

These bare facts - the angry husband and the incriminating words - are, in the author's hands, shaped to tell a riveting story, that says much about the individuals involved and the social world they moved in...

One day Isabella Robinson makes the acquaintance of Mr Robert Lane and this inspires the writing of a diary which, when unearthed, will have astounding consequences for both parties...

Abridged in five parts by Katrin Williams and read by Emma Fielding.
Producer Duncan Minshull.